CHAPTER VII.

GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION.

Tendency of immigrants to settle permanently-Ownership of homes Status of children in the households studied-Citizenship-Ability to speak English-General progress of immigrants in Grand Rapids, Mich.-Americanization-[Text Tables 69 to 79 and General Tables 42 to 50].

TENDENCY OF IMMIGRANTS TO SETTLE PERMANENTLY.

A tendency is noted among all the immigrant races found in the city to remain as permanent residents. The only exceptions that can be made in this regard are seen in the case of the Magyars and Slovaks, who are reported to be slowly leaving the community, and the South Italians, who compose the shifting element of the foreign population.

OWNERSHIP OF HOMES.

Home ownership by families, the heads of which were of foreign birth, may be considered a strong indication of permanent settlement, and the facts in this connection relative to the families, whose heads were employed in the furniture-manufacturing industry, are set forth in the following table, according to general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 69.-Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity and race of head of family.

The foregoing table shows that 61 per cent of the families for which information was secured own their homes. The proportion of families owning homes is largest for the native-born of foreign father, slightly smaller for the foreign-born, and very much smaller for the nativeborn of native father. Of the foreign races, the Dutch have the largest and the Lithuanians the smallest percentage of families which own homes.

STATUS OF CHILDREN IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The status of children in the households studied may be seen in the following table, which shows, by sex and general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of children 6 and under 16 years of age who were at home, at school, and at work.

TABLE 70.-Per cent of children 6 and under 16 years of age at home, at school, and at work, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more children reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Less than 2 per cent of the males 6 and under 16 years of age for whom information was secured are at work, 5.6 per cent are at home, and 92.8 per cent are at school. The proportion of male children at school is considerably larger for the native-born of native father than for either the foreign-born or the native-born of foreign father, while of the native-born of foreign father the Dutch have the largest and the Poles the smallest proportion of individuals reported at school. The percentages for the females 6 and under 16 years of age show the same relative tendency as are exhibited by the percentages for the males. The proportion of foreign-born reported at school is considerably smaller and the proportion of native-born of Polish father reported at home is considerably larger in the case of the females than in the case of the males. It will be noted, further, that 10.7 per cent of the Swedish girls of the second generation, as against only 1.6 per cent of the Swedish boys of the second generation, are at work.

CITIZENSHIP.

As regards interest in and the attainment of citizenship by the operatives of foreign birth, the following table shows, by race of individual, the present political condition of foreign-born male employees who had been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to this country:

TABLE 71.-Present political condition of foreign-born male employees who have been in the United States 5 years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States.]

The foregoing table shows that 55.1 per cent of the foreign-born male employees, for whom information was secured, are fully naturalized, and that 29.8 per cent have first papers only. Of the races for which the percentages are given, the Swedes and Germans show the largest proportion of fully naturalized individuals, and the Poles and Dutch the largest proportion having first papers only.

The disposition to acquire citizenship after designated periods of residence in this country is set forth in the following table, which shows, by years in the United States and race of individual, the present polítical condition of foreign-born male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States:

TABLE 72.-Present political condition of foreign-born male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States, by years in the United States and

race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 100 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

Of the male employees who have been in the United States from five to nine years, for whom information is contained in this table, 14.2 per cent are fully naturalized and 45.7 per cent have first papers only, while 70.1 per cent of the males who have been in the United States ten years or over are fully naturalized, and 24 per cent have first papers only. The proportion of those who are fully naturalized increases, for all the races, with length of residence in the United States. On the other hand, the Poles report a larger proportion of individuals in the United States ten years or over than of individuals in the United States from five to nine years who have first papers only.

The table next presented shows, by race of individual, the present political condition of foreign-born males in the households studied who had been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to this country.

TABLE 73.-Present political condition of foreign-born males who have been in the United States 5 years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States.]

A

The following table shows that 71.7 per cent of the males who have been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, for whom information was secured, are fully naturalized, and that 18.3 per cent have first papers only. larger proportion of the Swedes than of the Dutch or Poles are fully naturalized, while a considerably larger proportion of the Poles than of the Swedes or Dutch have first papers only.

ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH.

As regards ability to speak English, the following table shows, by sex and general nativity and race of individual, the per cent of persons 6 years of age or over in the households studied who can speak English.

TABLE 74.-Per cent of persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however, are for all non-English-speaking races.]